Investigations Panel Fires At NYRA's Public Integrity Contract

Citing the “breeder’s law”, the State Commission of Investigation said the New York Racing Association inappropriately hired the Getnick & Getnick law firm as its public integrity counsel last year.

The SCI concluded that NYRA needed to conduct a competitive bidding process before hiring the firm at $125,000 a month. The panel also said NYRA may well have found that Getnick & Getnick, led by Neil Getnick, would have been the most qualified bidder and due the five-year contract.

The commission said state regulators and overseers of NYRA must be empowered to require the cancellation of the contract.

Critics have suggested that Getnick got the contract as a payback for a favorable review of NYRA’s operations while under federal monitorship and for casting the racing association as a viable candidate for a long-term franchise extension. NYRA is set to get a 25-year extension under a deal worked out with the Spitzer administration and the Legislature.